Quinoa Salad with Avocado and Kalamata Olives

Quinoa Salad with Avocado and Kalamata Olives

 

This recipe comes from the New York Times online.

I thought it sounded like a good way to eat quinoa (keen-wah), which is high in protein and a nice alternative to rice.

 

Before you cook quinoa, you need to rinse and drain it a few times to get the soapy residue off.  It cooks quickly.

When the little white string in the seed is present, you know it's done.  It's as easy as making rice according to the packaged directions.

After making the quinoa you toss it in a bowl with a seeded & diced cucumber, Kalamata olives (I halved mine), and chopped fresh mint and parsley.  I seasoned it with sea salt and black pepper.

 

Then I whisked the dressing ingredients together - lemon juice, vinegar, Dijon mustard, garlic, olive oil, and either buttermilk or plain yogurt.  I used plain Greek yogurt with a Tbsp of water to give it a dressing consistency.

 

 

You toss half of the dressing with salad greens of your choice (I used romaine), and the other half of the dressing with the quinoa salad.  I served the greens and quinoa separately, but you could combine them.

Top with diced avocado and Feta crumbles (optional).

 

I really loved this salad - I would do it again even without the dressing.  The boys were neutral, but David liked it too.  The quinoa salad portion was great the next day with new greens.

 

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Enjoy!

Sleepy Lettuce Soup

Sleepy Lettuce Soup

 

Gillian McKeith shares lots of health benefits to each of her recipes.  I won't go into all the reasons this soup is so healthy (you can read all about it in You Are What You Eat), but I can tell you we all really liked this soup.

 

It's really rich and creamy.

No one could believe there wasn't cream in this recipe when we played our regular game of "can you tell what the ingredients are?" at dinner.

 

I froze half of this soup and pulled it out the other night for a second dinner. 

David and I liked it so much the boys didn't get a helping that second night.

 

This is really "Potato Soup with Lettuce" in my mind.

 

Start by heating olive oil in a soup pot and cooking garlic and onion for a few minutes.

Add in peeled and chopped potatoes and let the vegetables cook a few more minutes.

 

 

Then add in water, vegetable bouillon, and oatmeal.  Yes, oatmeal.  The original recipe called for 1/2 c of millet, but I didn't have millet, so I went with plain oatmeal and it worked beautifully.

 

I brought the soup to a boil, then let it simmer for 15 minutes.



 

Then I added in romaine lettuce and let it cook for a couple of minutes.

Then used my handheld blender to blend it well.

You could also transfer the slightly cooled soup to a blender or food processor, then return it to the soup pot if you don't have a Smart Stick.

 

Add chopped parsley or chives and blend again.



Reheat, if necessary, and serve garnished with raw nuts or chopped parsley.

Creamy, rich, and subtle.

A delicious soup!

 

 



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Enjoy!

 

Lime-Marinated White Bean Salad

 

Lime-Marinated White Bean Salad

 

This delicious salad recipe comes from Robin Robertson's Vegan Fire and Spice cookbook that I reference often.

 

This recipe is Peruvian and is normally made the exact same way, but with scallops or white fish in place of the white beans for a ceviche salad.  I'm not a big ceviche fan (raw fish "cooking" in lime), but I did like this salad quite a bit.

 

You start by rinsing and draining well a can of white beans.  I used white cannellini beans.

Toss the beans with lime juice, salt and cayenne.  Cover and refrigerate 1 hour.

 

Make up a dressing by combining parsley, scallion, capers, and olive oil.

If you want to use tomato as well, add in 1 chopped tomato at this point.

 

Place salad greens in a serving bowl, or on individual salad plates.

Top with un-drained marinated beans, and then drizzle the dressing on top.

 

Tangy, a touch spicy, fresh and delicious.

This salad disappeared quickly with the rest of our dinner!

 

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Buen Provecho!

Blended Mango Salad Smoothie

Blended Mango Salad Smoothie

I saw this recipe in the book Eat to Live and thought it sounded like a great way to get some extra greens in, assuming it was tasty.

This is a great smoothie (or "blended salad" as Dr. Fuhrman calls it)!

We loved the texture, and it's actually pretty sweet.

I've made it a couple of times now - it's a great time of year when mangoes are plentiful and inexpensive!

I peeled and sliced up a mango and added it to the blender, along with 1 cup of chopped kale.

I blended it well, then added half of the romaine, and blended again.

Then I added 1/4 c of milk or milk alternative (almond milk, or soy milk, or rice milk...) and the rest of the romaine and blended it one final time.

It's thick and sweet, and really good.

I would recommend chilling it in the glass or the blender for a few minutes though - it tastes especially good cold.

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Enjoy!

Romaines of the Day

Abs Diet Hall of Fame

Romaines of the Day Salad

This salad is really, really good! 

We made it the other night and David has said a couple of times now that he really liked it - in case he forgot to tell me.  I think we'll be making this every week.

This comes from the Abs Diet cookbook that my friend John loaned me a year or so ago.
I copied a bunch of recipes from it and they've been waiting for me patiently in my large recipe file.

There are some good recipes from this book, but the recipe titles are the best, including this one.

I made the vinaigrette that is part of the recipe with olive oil, lime zest, lime juice, salt & pepper.  I tossed the diced avocado into the dressing before incorporating it with the rest of the salad to keep the avocado fresh.

I mixed romaine, cilantro, scallions, and rinsed & drained black beans.

Added the dressing and tossed it all together.

Mmmm...it was so good!

The next time I made it I kept the avocado/dressing separate so I could store them separately in the fridge so the lettuce wouldn't wilt.  It's a really great salad!

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Enjoy!

Yummy Greens

Yummy Greens

I want to incorporate more green, leafy vegetables into our diet, but needed to find easy, flavorful ways to serve them.  We got a big bunch of kale and I got to work looking for good recipes.

I decided to go with steaming because it seemed like a great way to keep the nutrients intact and cut down on some of the bitterness of kale.

Kale is probably the most nutrient-dense food per calorie of all foods.

But it's kind of bitter.

I heated water in the bottom of a large pot and put the (rarely used) steamer section into the pot.

I don't like it when recipes don't tell me amounts to use, especially of an ingredient that I don't use often.  Several recipes I researched called for "a large bunch" of kale, and some said "steam kale" without even telling me how much! 

I can tell you that I put in 4 very large handfuls of kale and watched it quick reduce down as it steamed, covered. 

Then I tasted it after 10 minutes and the bitterness was still present.

If I want my family to eat, and LIKE, greens, then I knew I needed to make them more palatable.

So I added in 2 handfuls of chopped romaine, and that was a great balance.

I covered the steamer and cooked an additional 10 minutes.

I pulled the steamer tray out and seasoned the greens with minced garlic, dried dill, and dried basil, a little Kosher salt and black pepper.

This was a great greens dish! 

I asked my youngest to try the greens with dinner, and he ended up eating 2 servings, without any issue.  The leftovers were good reheated the next day as well.

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Enjoy Your Veggies!